Suspect identified in DeLand fatal shootout

Suspect identified as Grady Edmondson, Jr., 35, deputies say

In Volusia County, investigators are working to figure out whether a deadly shooting near DeLand is a case of self-defense. The DeLand resident told detectives the man shot at him, so he fired back. The other man involved in the shooting, Akeem Smith, died later at the hospital.

In Volusia County, investigators are working to figure out whether a deadly shooting near DeLand is a case of self-defense.

It happened outside a home on Holly Boulevard and North Parkway Street Sunday night.

Advertisement

The resident told detectives the man shot at another man, so he fired back. Officials said it's not the first time there's been trouble at the home.

Investigators said the front yard of the home is where two men, then acquaintances, exchanged gunfire. The man who was shot ran across the street to a neighbor's home.

"My son woke me up and said he heard gunshots," neighbor A.J. Burns said.

Burns and his family discovered a bleeding man on their front porch and called for help.

"I woke up, came out. I heard somebody trying to get in my front door and saw the young man laying outside," Burns said.

Akeem Smith, 26, had been shot and would later die at the hospital. Investigators believe Smith showed up at the home of Grady Edmondson, Jr., and that Smith and Edmondson argued.

"Some kind of altercation took place, in which it appears as though mutual gunfire was exchanged," said Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson.

Edmondson, though detained and questioned Monday morning, has not been charged in Smith's shooting death. Investigators said they found shell casings from two different guns in Edmondson's yard, and the gun Smith allegedly carried and fired was found beneath a basketball hoop at the neighbor's home, where he collapsed, possibly indicating self-defense.

It's not the first time Edmondson has been in the news. In March, he was allegedly shot and wounded by his father during an altercation at the same home. The father remains in jail without bond.

"When they came, they didn't know what it was," Johnson said.

Investigators said Sunday night's scene was chaotic as deputies tried to determine what had happened, but for the family in the home where the wounded Smith ran for help, it was a nightmare.

"I mean, my kids had to see it, you know," Burns said.

Investigators continue to review the deadly incident. The State Attorney's office is also involved in the investigation.